The number of workers hired by industrial and service sector firms in November increased 0.1 percent to 8.19 million, as hospitality companies added 2,000 employees, more than offsetting a drop of 1,000 workers at local manufacturers, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
The imbalance is likely to continue, as service-sector firms increase hiring to meet demand driven by eased COVID-19 restrictions, the agency said.
Compared with a year earlier, overall payroll expanded 0.35 percent, or by about 28,000 jobs, as more people went out to eat, DGBAS Census Department Deputy Director Chen Hui-hsin (陳惠欣) said.
Photo courtesy of the Kaohsiung Labor Affairs Bureau
She attributed the retreat in hiring activity by local manufacturers to global inflation and monetary tightening, which is cooling demand for electronics, the main driver of Taiwan’s exports.
Major tech and non-tech firms are cutting capacity to cope with weak demand and inventory adjustments, which would explain a 2.7-hour decrease in overtime hours from a year earlier to 13.5 hours, the fifth straight month of decline, the latest DGBAS report showed.
By contrast, service providers focused on the domestic market have staged a quick and solid comeback, as companies throw year-end banquets for their employees after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chen said.
The business pickup is most evident at restaurants, hotels, travel agencies and entertainment facilities, she said.
The high season might extend through the Lunar New Year holiday and the school winter break at the end of next month, she added.
The accession rate — the number of new employees added to payrolls — shed 0.1 percentage points to 2.09 percent, while the exit rate weakened 0.16 percentage points to 1.99 percent, which is positive for labor participation gauges, the DGBAS said.
Also for November, average monthly take-home pay averaged NT$44,682, rising 2.35 percent from a year earlier, the agency said.
Total monthly wages — including overtime compensation, performance-based commissions and bonuses — rose 1.99 percent to NT$51,157, it said.
Workers at financial and insurance companies had relatively high regular wages of NT$64,269 a month, followed by electronics manufacturers at NT$52,382 and overall manufacturers at NT$42,430, it said.
Restaurants and hotels offered relatively low monthly take-home pay of NT$33,499, lower than other service providers, which averaged at NT$34,151, the agency said.
The Ministry of Labor has said that hospitality companies should raise wages to expand their labor pool. Hotels have pressed for regulatory easing so they can hire cheap workers from abroad.
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